The present inention relates to golf clubs and more particular to iron type golf club heads with an improved sole configuration.
Conventional iron-type golf clubs, particularly wedges and other higher loft irons, have smooth bottoms or sole surfaces. Sand wedges usually have bounce which reacts with the sand or earth to produce club head action which lifts a golf ball to the target. Often these shots are not properly executed resulting in the ball not getting out of the hazard when not enough sand is moved to lift the ball. When these golf clubs are used in the fairway and ground contact is made behind the ball, the club head can bounce upward causing the ball to be "skulled" or "bladed," producing disastrous results. Conventional iron-type golf clubs with a smooth sole surface also have a tendency to bounce, causing the same problems, although normally to a lesser degree.
Conventional wedges, when used to play a ball out of a trap, rely on the bounce configuration of the sole to facilitate contacting the sand and to prevent the leading edge of the club from digging into the sand too deeply. When addressing a ball in a sand bunker, the club must be held aloft in a hovering position to avoid grounding or touching the sand, which incurs a penalty in accordance with the rules of golf. Furthermore, the golf club is usually laid open, further exposing the sole to the sand surface when such a shot is required. Thus, these clubs are designed to hit down into the sand, behind the ball, in order to move sand at the ball, which in turn, moves the ball out of the bunker to the target. However, unless a player has great skill, the shot can be difficult since hitting down into the sand causes a majority of the sand to fly upward, with a large portion of the sand missing the ball completely, Since the surface of the sole, forming the bounce portion, is relatively smooth, only a limited amount of sand is generally directed at the ball to lift it out of the bunker.
Prior art patents which teach the modification of the sole of the golf club include the patents to Churchill U.S. Pat. No. (1,128,288), Smith U.S. Pat. No. (1,505,296), Morton U.S. Pat. No. (1,835,718), Consoli U.S. Pat. No. (3,830,503), Evans et al. U.S. Pat. No. (3,862,759), and Fenton U.S. Pat. No. (5,377,983), among others.